There exists in the prior art various retainers and accessories for fixing the positions of articles of one kind or another. These include hooks, pegs, clips, brackets, etc. Such retainers may be used in a wide variety of applications. For example, they are commonly used in the medical field to fix the positions of various surgical instruments, devices and prostheses while those articles are being transported, sterilized and processed in one way or another.
Medical instruments are often transported in trays. Prior to use, such instruments are placed in the tray and subjected to sterilization. To improve the circulation of steam throughout the tray, the tray bottom wall and perhaps also the side wall are usually perforated. In order to maintain a separation between the various instruments in the tray, the instruments are supported or retained by posts, brackets or other retainers anchored to the tray. Following sterilization, the tray full of instruments may be transported to an operating room and placed close to a surgical team whose members may withdraw the instruments from the tray as needed for the particular surgical procedure being performed. Usually, the instruments are selectively arranged or organized in the tray so that they can be picked from the tray in the order in which they are needed for the particular procedure.
Sterilization trays may come in a variety of configurations, such that they can hold a number of different instruments. While the companies that require sterilization trays may assemble bracketry themselves, it often is a cumbersome process, since it requires positioning and connecting each bracket, which often has multiple parts. Additionally, once the bracket is assembled, it may become necessary to remove the bracket from the tray to properly sterilize it. Bracketry that uses multiple pieces can be time consuming to assemble and disassemble, which results in inefficiencies with using the tray. These inefficiencies may waste time and money.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.